A Radiant Dawn
by Zaradi
Summary: A newly minted summoner with prodigal talent from an uncertain past is thrown into an emotional trial-by-fire. With multiple factions vying to add his talents to their arsenal of weapons, Alayn Durand must be careful who he trusts. Even those who he has grown up with have their own motives. When someone comes to you with knowledge of your past, who can you really trust? oc x harem
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

_The light pitter-patter of rain streamed down the body of a young child, lying in the middle of a country road. It was midday, but the shower felt just as down-trodden as if it were in the dead of night. The boy laid there, alive but unmoving, lacking the basic strength to even stand. He had been lying there for what felt like an eternity. Maybe it was an eternity; he wasn't quite sure how he got there. All he knew is that all he was capable of doing was just lying there, accepting the gravity of his fate, and wait for darkness to envelope him. At least it was a peaceful way to go. The light dancing of rain across his skin was soothing, and he finally decided to just close his eyes and wait for nothingness._

"_Heeeeeey! Hey you!"_

_His eyes opened to a bath of golden hair and pale, cream colored skin. Bright blue eyes gazed down into his soft, gray ones. "Hi. I'm Lux, what's your name?" the girl asked brightly, voice radiating enthusiasm and energy. She was a ball of light hovering between him and darkness. He opened his mouth to try and reply, but no sound came out. The girl's head tilted slightly to the side, possibly from confusion, but her positivity never faltered. "You look like you could use a bath. Come on. I'll take you to my home."_

"Heeeeeey! Hey you!"

The shout made Alayn jump slightly, startled by the sudden rush of noise. The light pitter-patter of rain was ever-present, this time beating against the roof of his carriage instead of his skin. It was midday as well, and the rain was more of a cooling blanket to a warm spring day rather than an icy touch. Alayn averted his gaze from the window to the other person in the carriage, a bright blonde girl with cream-colored skin and bright blue eyes. Her face shone with its usual burst of bright joy and energy, but it was also covered in a face that he knew all too well: concern. "Jeeze, you always look so distant whenever it rains. What do you think about?" she asked, a slight tinge of worry to her voice. Her concern for his well-being was always refreshing, and he gave her a reassuring smile. "It's nothing, Luxanna. I'm okay."

Lux immediately began to pout, punching his arm lightly. "Alayn! I thought I asked you not to call me that. Even if I'm a champion and you're a summoner, that doesn't mean we can't still be friends." She whined, just causing Alayn to laugh. He paused though, his mind elsewhere in thought. "Hey Lux, why'd your family take me in that day?" he asked carefully. The question gave Lux a moment of pause. "Because I asked them to. I had to use pretty much every favor that my family owed me to convince them to not just turn you over to an orphanage, but I did." She replied back somberly, clearly remembering back to that day as well. But her sober expression didn't survive long, as it was replaced by her usual mirth only moments later. "But it wasn't all bad! We had each other, which made everything okay!" she made sure to add. Alayn nodded in affirmation. "Right. I just wasn't aware it took that much convincing to get your parents to allow me to stay. It must've been difficult." Lux just shrugged, beaming her usual radiant warmth. "Nothing worthwhile is ever easy, though. Right?" she observed, which caught Alayn off-guard. He was hardly expecting such a profound reply, but it was also a nice thought to consider.

Lux's attention was drawn away from the conversation and back out through the window as a rather large building came into view. "Ah! We're almost there! You can see the Institute now. Isn't it so amazing?" she mused, excited to be back. Alayn looked out of the window at the approaching building and couldn't help be amazed himself. The sheer size alone was soimpressively large that it could easily house thousands of people at a time. It would certainly be a different kind of environment than he was used to in Demacia. But he was ready for any challenge that would be thrown his way. He was a Summoner in the League of Legends. If he could achieve that, what couldn't he do?

A door opened into a small, dark room. The person who opened the door quickly closed it, re-consuming the room in black. There was a pause of silence. "The new summoner Lux spoke of has arrived." A voice spoke. Another pause ensued. "What do you think?" a different voice spoke. "His entrance exam scores suggest a high level of competency as well as innate talent. His understanding of strategy is strong. He's someone we should be interested in." A pause followed. "I didn't ask for the numbers. I asked for your opinion." The second voice spoke again, an annoyed tone coating his voice. "My opinion? He's heralded as the second coming of one of the greatest summoners in history. The evidence we have right now supports these rumors. If they're anything to go off of, this is someone we cannot afford to lose." The first voice explained, not fazed by the disrespect from before. A long pause followed. "Agreed. See to it that we don't lose him, then. Personally." The second voice instructed. The door opened again, then closed, returning the room to a silent darkness.

**Hey everyone! Welcome to A Radiant Dawn! I hope that you stick around for the journey because this should be getting really fun, really fast. I hope to be making regular, weekly updates to this story, potentially earlier if I can pump out chapters fast enough. However, at the bare minimum, I'm looking to upload a new chapter ever Friday at least. A chapter a week sounds reasonable, right? **

**Of course my writing is probably bad, so do you have any comments or criticisms you want to bring up? Any ideas you wanna offer or just wanna drop in to say hey? Leave me a review! I always welcome feedback of any kind, since I'm always looking to improve my writing. Don't be afraid to speak your mind, my ego can certainly take a few hits :3**

**With that all said and done, have a great Friday, and for some of you, a great Spring Break!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

Stepping out of the carriage, Alayn stood in front of the massive Institute of War for the first time and was awestruck by the reality of where he was now. He was just some random kid, but he was now a Summoner in the League of Legends, a highly prestigious position that many could only dream of being able to one day do. But he was here. This was actually happening. This wasn't a dream. It was a joy and a burden at the same time. The spotlight was really on him now, and he had to show the world what he was capable of. And he certainly felt like he was up for the challenge.

A loud yawn prompted Alayn to look behind him as he watched Lux exit the carriage, stretching out a bit to relieve the cramped muscles from the carriage ride. The rain had since stopped, and the way the sun now shone down on her caused her skin to practically shine with radiance, giving her the appearance of a goddess. It was a great sight to behold. Lux finished yawning and looked at him, a red hue tinting her cheeks when she noticed his staring. "Alayn, why are you looking at me like that? There's not something on my face is there?" she said, suddenly clawing at her hair and pressing down her shirt in an attempt to fix her nearly flawless appearance already, which made Alayn bust out with side-clutching laughter.

"Luxanna, dear, you look fine. Alayn was just noticing how stunning you look in the sunlight."

Now it was Alayn's turn to blush in embarrassment, as Lux's cheeks only burned a brighter red as they both turned their heads to see who the third party was. Lux seemed to recognize her right away. "Oh! Lady Shyvana! My apologies, I didn't know you were there." She hurriedly apologized, bowing slightly in respect to her superior. Upon hearing the name, Alayn recognized the half-dragon from a few private parties between the Crownguards and the King's family. He bowed as well. "Lady Shyvana. I don't recall if we've ever been properly introduced. My name is Alayn Durand. It's an honor to make your acquaintance." He spoke formally and respectfully, earning a slight chuckle from the half-dragon. "Take it easy, Summoner. There's no need for formalities here. Any friend of Lux's is most certainly a friend of mine." She spoke. Alayn relaxed slightly after hearing that, surprised by the very informal atmosphere of the Institute so far. Was it always like this?

"Also, Lux, good job on hyping up our friend Alayn here. You have everyone thinking he's the next Senpai." Shyvana told Lux, which brought an absolutely horrified look to her face. "Senpai? What does that mean?" Alayn asked, which only added to the horror spelled out on Lux's face. Shyvana chuckled at her expression before turning to address Alayn. "You wouldn't recognize him by the name Senpai, since it's just a term of endearment that the champions use, but senpai was the legendary summoner known as Faker. It appears you have quite the reputation already, Summoner." Shyvana mused, very entertained by this all. Lux looked like she was about to pass out from sheer embarrassment.

Before I had time to react, Shyvana raised a finger to pause me. "To chat is not the only reason I came down, although I did want to meet someone regarded so highly as a potential legendary summoner. I came as a messanger for the Board, since I was coming this way anyway. They wanted to see you when you got in." Alayn raised his eyebrow. "The Board? That sounds like a capital letter there. Who are they?" He asked curiously. Lux hopped in place, clearly excited. "Ohmygod! You're going to see the Summoning Board! That's so cool! They're the summoners who control who gets to be a Summoner and what rank the Summoners are. They're so influential in the Institute!" Lux gushed with enthusiasm, unable to contain her joy. Alayn shrugged, a slight smile on his face. "Well, might as well not keep them waiting. Lux? Lady Shyvana? Are you coming with me?" Lux nodded energetically, but Shyvana shook her head. "No, I agreed to meet the Prince for lunch today. It was a pleasure talking with you though, Alayn. I hope we have a chance to talk again sometime." Shyvana said, bowing her head slightly before turning and walking back inside.

The Hall of the Summoners Board was a grand place. Massive double doors open into an expansive hall, tall ceiling and wide walls. A dark, granite walkway leads up to a centerpiece of three ornate chairs situated in a semi-circle. On them sat three summoners, decorated in ornate, dark green robes. Alayn strode to them, Lux following by his side. When the pair reached the trio of chairs, Alayn bowed respectfully. The three summoners all nodded. "Welcome, Alayn." The summoner in the center seat spoke. "Congratulations on becoming a Summoner. I'm known as Phreak. To my right is Jatt and to my left is Riv. The three of us form the Summoner's Board. It's our responsibility to rank summoners fairly, according to their skill level, so that they compete against other summoners that share their skill level." Phreak explained, eliciting a nod from Alayn. "Understood. What do you need me to do?" Alayn asked. "You've already done part of it. The admissions tests that you took to be granted a place as a Summoner gives us preliminary information on your potential capabilities as a Summoner. You scored exceptionally well on those tests; it was one of the best scores we've seen in years. Now all we need to see from you is what you can do in practice, rather than on paper." Jatt explained. Riv nodded in agreement. "Tomorrow we've scheduled a practice match for you. It's a simple one-on-one fight with the standard rules: each summoner will command one champion against each other. The first champion to kill the other champion, kill one hundred minions, or destroy the opposing champion's turret will win the matchup. We have not selected a champion for you, so you can decide that one on your own. If you can't choose one by the time the match is supposed to start, we will choose one for you." Riv explained, getting another nod from Alayn. "Remember, the outcome of the match is not what is important, rather the level of skill you exhibit. If you show a lot of skill, you will be placed highly. If you perform poorly, you will be placed poorly. Regardless of whether you win or lose, your overall performance is what we will be watching." Jatt explained, which eased some of the stress from Alayn's mind. He imagined that losing would still reflect poorly on his overall abilities, but it wouldn't completely throw him in the slammer. "I assume you still would like to get settled in. I'm sure Lady Luxanna can show you to your room. Get some rest and come prepared to give your all." Phreak spoke, dismissing the pair with a nod.

...

A door opened to a dark room, enough light slipping in to highlight the figure out a single person slipping in, just in time for the door to close again, encapsulating the room in utter darkness. "So what's the news on our new prodigal summoner?" a voice spoke out of the darkness. "He's having his practice match tomorrow. Standard one versus one format." A second voice spoke. There was a pause of silence. "I assume that means you have a plan?" the first voice spoke again. "Of course I have a plan." The second voice replied back, an arrogant tone coating each word. There was another pause, followed by a slight chuckle. "Good. I will ask nothing more then. I trust you to be successful. Do not fail me, though." The first voice warned. The door opened once more, just long enough for the sole figure to slip out, returning the room to utter darkness once again.

...

**Hey there guys! I hope you're enjoying your summer break so far! I've just been swimming in ideas as of late so I decided to get the next chapter out there now instead of waiting for a week so that I can just keep going.**

**Of course I want to hear from you guys though, since the only real reason I'm writing this is so that other people can enjoy the story just as much as I do. Do you have any comments or criticisms you want to bring up? Any ideas you wanna offer or just wanna drop in to say hey? Leave me a review! I always welcome feedback of any kind, since I'm always looking to improve my writing.**

**Hope you're having a good weekend and a good Spring Break! I'll see you guys again in another chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

"Come on, Alayn! It's almost lunchtime! You'll get to meet everyone."

They had just gotten out of the hearing with the Summoner's Board and Lux was already dragging Alayn around sight-seeing. They had gone and watched a match on Summoner's Rift, a narrow victory for the purple team after a very bloody fight, as well as looked out over the Crystal Scar, the Twisted Treeline, as well as The Howling Abyss.

"Wait, these places are scattered all over Runeterra. How can we actually be walking to them when one is near the Kalamanda Desert and one is in the middle of the Freljord?" Alayn had asked, curious about how he could've covered the distance from the Crystal Scar and the Howling Abyss on foot over the course of five minutes. Lux laughed at the comment. "We're not actually there, silly. The windows we look out over the arenas are actually just enhanced viewing screens, imprinted with whatever the arena currently looks like. That's how most people watch the matches since they can't actually be there. They've been working on opening up a smaller arena for one-on-one matches, but it's planned to be near a whole lot of lava under the surface and the depth plus the lava is interfering with the signals, so they haven't made the map public yet." Lux explained as they walked from the Twisted Treeline viewing area toward the commons area. It made sense to Alayn; lord knows the havoc that could happen were there to be a live audience watching a League match on-site; one misplaced spell or shot and there goes a few dozen people. Alayn nodded in agreement to his own thought; definitely much safer to have remote viewing capabilities.

"Come on, you slow-poke! They'll all be done eating by the time we get there at this rate!" Lux whined, grabbing Alayn's arm and dragging him through the halls. Summoners of all kinds congregated in the halls, their robes distinguishing their rank from one another.

The corridors eventually opened up into an expansive hall area, tables covering most of the floor area. A few aisles of tables and trays were set out to one side, each tray covered in different types of foods and cuisines from all around the world. Most of the tables were occupied by Summoners, with the vast majority of one rank congregating together in an area. There was a small clearing toward the center area of tables, though, and there sat the champions. It was in that direction that Lux was dragging him. She finally stopped in front of one table, clearing her throat audibly to attract the attention of those sitting there.

"May I present to all my friends, the ONE, the ONLY, Alayn Durand!" she announced dramatically. The table collectively let out a massive sigh, except for one voice who squealed in excitement. "Oh, so this is the fabled man who's supposed to be able to defeat any team single-handedly? I must say, he's rather cute. I do hope you're not planning on hogging him to yourself Lux!" the voice mewled, sliding out of her chair and gracefully floating her way to his side. She was wearing a red robe with a white trim around the edges that barely covered her chest and bottom. What looked like a fluffy, snow-white train was actually individual fox-tails, nine to be exact. And on top of her head were two black fox ears. Whether they were a costume or actually part of her person was hard to tell, as her long, black hair covered up any signs of there being a headband. The girl wrapped her arms around his side with a slight "Nyah!" and looked up at his eyes playfully. "Y'know, you can play with the ears if you'd like. I don't mind." She purred, giving a slight wink to emphasize the point.

The entire table laughed, aside from Lux, whose face was covered with a mixture of shock, embarrassment, and absolute horror to join in on the mirth. "I can't believe you Ahri! Can you be decent for once in your entire life? And I'm not even hogging him! Not like I would hog him! It's not even like that! Gah!" Lux complained while she peeled the she-fox off of an entirely red-faced Alayn.

Once the two fighting females composed themselves again, Lux returned to Alayn's side, patting down her ruffled hair to be perfectly in place again. "Right, so this is Caitlyn," Lux began introducing, first pointing to a slender brunette, peacefully eating her meal. She nodded politely, clearing her mouth of food before speaking. "Lux has said many good things about you. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance." Caitlyn greeted, a polite smile touching her lips. "This is Akali," Lux continued greeting, gesturing to a raven-haired girl who, he had to admit, he didn't notice until Lux pointed her out. His slight surprise got a smile from Akali. "It's okay, it takes a while for people to start noticing me. Being a ninja tends to make you unnoticeable. I'm sure if you're a friend of Lux's that you'll catch on sooner or later." Akali explained, which made sense to Alayn. She seemed friendly enough, which was the only real thing that mattered, he supposed. A grumble came from Lux to end off the list. "And, of course, you just met Ahri…" Lux mumbled, still upset over Ahri's sudden outburst. Ahri just grinned deviously, pleased with her antics. "Don't listen to li'l ol' Goldielocks over there. I know how to play fair. Especially since everything's fair in love and war." She spoke, giving another wink. Alayn's face returned to its previous crimson color and Lux groaned in frustration.

"Anyway!" she shouted, trying to get the topic off of things that didn't turn her color the same color of Ahri's skimpy dress. "Time to actually talk. The Board scheduled his practice match for tomorrow. He needs a Champion to use." Lux informed. The only one who looked slightly surprised was Ahri. The three others shared a look, and just started laughing. "What!?" Lux asked, looking exasperated and thoroughly lost. The three of them gave Lux a mystified look, as if they were having an entire conversation through a single look. Lux's expression changed from one of anger, to disbelief, to shock. Lux looked at Alayn, who looked utterly confused at the entire non-verbal exchange, then back at the group. Caitlyn rested her hand in her palm, which was the last straw for Alayn. "Okay, can someone explain to me what is going on? I don't speak face." The frustration from Alayn got a giggle from Ahri and a sigh from Akali. "Okay Alayn. When you learned about the practice match tomorrow, right after you were finished with the meeting who was the first person that came to your mind who you would ask to be your champion for the match?" Caitlyn asked. Alayn paused for a second. "Well, Lux of course." Lux immediately whipped her head around to stare at Alayn in disbelief. Caitlyn didn't pause, however. "And after you met the three of us? Who did you think you wanted to ask?" Caitlyn continued. Alayn didn't think for very long on that one. "Lux, still. What's with all these questions?" Alayn asked. Lux's cheeks adopted a light pink hue. Caitlyn gave a slow clap in response to the second answer. "Congratulations, Lux. He was gonna ask you from the very start."

Lux's face was one of utter disbelief. "Wait, you didn't think I was going to ask you? Who else would I want to do this with?" Alayn asked, thoroughly bewildered by Lux's shock. Lux was his best friend, the one person in the Institute that he had complete and full trust in. If he was going to do a one-on-one for the first time, he wanted to do it with someone he trusted. A smile twitched on Lux's lips. "Then I suppose there's a few things we need to discuss before tomorrow then. I know a quiet place where we can discuss skill usage and itemization." Lux suggested, gesturing outwards toward the corridor. Alayn nodded. "After you, of course."

…

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading through chapter three!**

**I'm still on spring break, but there's not really a whole lot for me to do. I'm on a vacation and during the nights when there's just boat-loads of down-time all I have to do is write (which is fine I'm just swimming in ideas for this story right now so I could keep writing for a long time to come). But maybe I should be doing something more productive with my spring break…**

**-shrug- Who cares. **

**Anyway, since I know my writing probably sucks, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. ****Do you have any comments or criticisms you want to bring up? Any ideas you wanna offer or just wanna drop in to say hey? Leave me a review! I always welcome feedback of any kind, since I'm always looking to improve my writing.**

**Anyway, I'll see you guys for chapter four!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Hey Alayn. Are you nervous?"

"A little. Are you?"

"Yeah, a little."

It was the day of Alayn's practice match, and the day was full of unknowns. For one he didn't exactly understand how the match would work. For two, he didn't know who he would be facing against. For three, neither he nor Lux could figure out what Champion they would be facing. It made planning a little rough because they had to plan around a plethora of different possibilities.

"_How are we going to win this, Alayn? We don't even know what we're going up against." Lux asked Alayn, laying back down on a couch with an exasperated sigh. It had been three hours of planning that hadn't yielded much other than more questions: who were they facing, who was going to be controlling the champion, what was the optimal build path to use? None of which had been answered yet. "It may not matter." Alayn said, pulling up a digital information screen. "Your abilities are some of the longest ranged abilities in the game. Not the longest, mind you, but comparable. We could just try to ride it out and hit the 100 mark first, relying on your range and your shield to keep you safe." Lux thought about it for a minute before frowning. "None of my abilities really pack any kind of punch until later levels, or until I get some items to use that boost my ability power. If I get jumped on in the early levels, we could lose straight out." Lux said, concerned about losing well before hitting the 100 mark. Alayn pulled up a map of the Arena, Howling Abyss, and studied it for a minute. "We could let the minion wave push toward us. We would have the safety of the turret protecting us, which would do tons of damage to any champion trying to kill you under it early on. We also have the two health packets here," he said, pointing to the side of the turret, "As well as one a little further behind the turret. Those provide whoever picks them up with health and mana, which should keep you sustained through the early game. From there we should be able to get you some more levels, which should mean that getting a higher creep-score shouldn't be too hard." Alayn finished, dismissing the image of the map and looking to Lux, who was still frowning. "Is something wrong?" Alayn asked, concerned. Lux quickly shook her head. "No, no. I'm just thinking that if you want to do that kind of plan, why not just ask Gragas or Ziggs or Orianna or even Karthus to be your champion for this? They all have better long-range abilities than mine so you'd do a lot better with the—" she started to say, but was abruptly interrupted when Alayn lightly slapped the back of her head. Lux looked stun for a moment, before turning to Alayn with rage in her eyes. "What the hell Alayn!? Why'd you do that?" she yelled into the face of utter tranquility in Alayn. "Because we've already been over this answer before. I asked you because you're you: you're my friend, my closest friend, and the only person here I really trust. It's a no-brainer that I would ask you to do this with me." Alayn spoke simply. Lux paused, the rage leaving her eyes as she realized he was actually being serious about what he was saying. "Besides, you underestimate yourself so much. Maybe winning this will give you a little more confidence." Alayn suggested, laughing a bit._

"Alayn! Alayn you goof, we're here!"

Lux's yelling snapped him out of his thoughts as they arrived at the Summoning Room. It was a small room, actually, with ten chairs scattered around the back perimeter of the room. The chairs were paired together in two's by a series of wires and cables that connected one chair to the other. Every chair had cabling that ran from the chair to a central spot on the floor, and down into the floor, possibly to another room. The chairs had multiple panels around the arms as well as ports on the arm, leg, and chest areas that looked like it would let out constraints to keep people in the chairs. Why they would need to stay in the chairs was beyond his understanding.

A Summoner walked up to him and Lux. "You must be the Summoner who's getting a practice match today. Come in, come in. Lady Luxanna, a pleasure as well." He greeted them, gesturing them to enter. "I'm Kobe, and I'm gonna be the tech running the match. I'll be the one that makes sure that everything goes smoothly on a technical end and the match can be decided by skill not who has the better processor. Anyway, go ahead and get situated in one of the seats and we can get started." Alayn and Lux both got seated in one of the chairs, and Kobe moved between the two of them, attaching different sensors to different areas of the body. "Alright Alayn, since this is your first time in a match there's a few things I need to ask you to calibrate the system. First off, are you right handed or left handed?" Kobe asked. "Right handed." Came Alayn's simple reply. "Alright. Your preferred pain settings?" Kobe asked, which confused Alayn. "Pain settings?" Kobe simply nodded. "A lot of the sensors and nodes I attached to you do more than just transmit data from you to Lux. They can also receive data from her inbound to you. This data can include pain that she experiences, we can then transfer it onto you as well. Certain summoners like to at least feel a part of what their summoner is going through, so they have it on. Others prefer not to have it on, so they leave it off. I have to offer it to everyone." Kobe explained, which made Alayn think a bit. Of course what someone was capable of was limited by how they were physically feeling. And if he were going to make accurate calls that Lux could execute, he would need to understand how she was physically feeling at the time as well…

"Turn them on to full." Alayn said, which surprised Lux. "Alayn, you don't have to do that!" she complained. Alayn simply shrugged. "I could hardly asked you to run ten miles if you have a broken leg. I need to understand how you're feeling if I'm going to be a good summoner for you." Alayn explained. Lux visibly didn't agree with his decision, but she didn't voice any further complaints. There was a few moments of silence before Kobe walked back up to the chairs. He pulled a thumb tack out of his pocket and promptly roughly poked Lux's leg with it.

Alayn's leg spiked in pain. "Ow!" they both said in unison, which just got a nod out of Kobe. "Pain sensors are functioning properly. You're all set. I'll get you guys strapped in and we can get started." Kobe spoke, punching a few buttons before straps extended out of the sides of the chair, restraining his arms, legs, and his chest. "The restraints are only a safety measure, as we've had incidents of summoners accidently falling out of their chairs and injuring themselves on the fall and causing problems in the game. Once the game is over the straps will be immediately removed." Kobe said, and the game started.

Alayn opened his eyes, the howling winds and freezing cold of the Freljord shocking his system. What shocked him even more was the realization that he was looking through Lux's eyes, and he had to control himself a bit. _"Alayn, can you hear me?" _he heard Lux's voice echoing in his mind. He regained his calm before replying. _"Yeah, I hear you. You ready?" _he asked. Lux laughed. _"As ready as I'll ever be. What should I buy to start with?" _Lux asked. _"Just what we discussed. Get the three Doran's Rings and the health potions. We'll play this game safe from afar." _Lux purchased the items and began trotting down the lane, waiting for the minions to spawn. The announcer announced the minions spawning, and the game really began. Lux watched the enemy minions approach the center of the map, and another figure approaching with then. Crimson red hair, dark clothing, twin blades in her hands and daggers strapped to multiple different parts of her body. Lux groaned. _"Great. We're facing Katarina." _Lux said sarcastically. Alayn simply nodded. It was a skill-matchup, with both having outplay potential on the other. It was close to what he expected, but it was an interesting choice to face against. _"Remember, just play it safe. Your abilities have a longer range than Katarina's so you should be safe so long as you just play back. If she tries jumping on you, just shield yourself and bind her and run back." _He instructed, which got a nod from Lux as she began focusing on last-hitting the minions.

The game was fairly slow for the first few minutes as both were just content with last hitting minions and getting a few more levels under their belts. Katarina was the first to start playing aggressively. She threw out her bouncing dagger at Lux, before Shunpo'ing onto her and spinning her blades out in a circle, sending stabs of pain down both of their bodies. Lux reacted quickly, though, shooting a snare of light at Katarina and binding her in place. Lux blasted the Noxian assassin a few times with bursts of light before retreating a ways back, outside of range for retaliation. This game of cat and mouse continued for a while, each party drinking a health potion to recover from the damage. While Katarina's aggression was usually meaning she had a slight upper-hand in fights, her aggression meant that she was missing more minions than Lux was, which was giving Lux an edge in creep score. It was starting to move toward the later stages of the match, and Lux was within a wave of minions of hitting the 100 mark. Katarina was not that close. _"Katarina may try to go for a all-in fight. Be careful." _Alayn warned. Lux just nodded in reply.

Katarina made the first move. Lux had just used an ability to clear out a few minions before Katarina jumped on her, throwing out her daggers and Shunpo'ing on top of her. "Die!" she cursed before spinning rapidly in circles, daggers flying out rapidly in her deadly Death Lotus. Each dagger was a stab of fire to Alayn and Lux, but Lux reacted calmly through the pain. She threw out her binding, snaring Katarina under the tower as the tower began to pummel the Noxian with turret shots. With Katarina bound to one spot, Lux thrust her wand forward, willing it to levitate on its own as it began to spin with magic. The wand emanated with a bright glow as Lux poured the last of her mana reserves into casting her ultimate. "DEMACIA!" she shouted, throwing her Final Spark straight into the immobile Katarina, blasting her straight into the wall.

"FIRST BLOOD!" the announcer called out automatically, as the victory imaged came into Alayn's view. He did it; he won his placement match. The Howling Abyss disappeared from view and the Summoning Room came back into reality. The chair constraints were released and Alayn shot out of it, ecstatic with his victory. Lux jumped up as well, running to Alayn and hugging him tightly, laughing all the while.

…

A door opened into a dark room, remaining open just long enough for a single figure to slip in quietly before it shut again, encasing the room in darkness. There was a pause. "Alayn won his match. The plan ran into complications." A voice said. Another pause followed. "I thought I was clear that you were not to fail me." A second voice spoke, clearly angered. "We have a different plan! One that's sure not to fail. It will take longer, though, and it will be a delicate process." The first voice spoke, quickly and trying to hide the failure in a new plan. There was a silence, an eerie, deathly silence. "Explain it to me." The second voice said, and said nothing as the first voice explains the plan. There was a pause, one that seemed to stretch on for all eternity. "Alright. Do it. I expect regular updates on progress. I need results soon. I can't risk him aligning with someone else. If we cannot get him for ourselves, we must ensure that no one else gets him. Understood?" the second voice spoke. "Of course. I won't fail you again." The first voice spoke. The second voice laughed. "I hope so. If you failed again, you may share his fate." The door opened, and the figure slipped back out.

…

**Welcome back guys! Thanks for reading through Chapter Four. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. To start with I want to apologize. I know that today is Saturday. I know I promised uploads every Friday and that I didn't upload anything yesterday. I've been traveling a lot this past week and on Friday I landed in a hotel that was charging 15 bucks for a day of wifi. So I had no wifi to upload anything. I'M SORRY FORGIVE ME D: But now I'm waiting for my flight back home and thank god for free airport wifi so here you guys go!**

**Anyway, as always I'm interested in your feedback. ****Do you have any comments or criticisms you want to bring up? Any ideas you wanna offer or just wanna drop in to say hey? Leave me a review! I always welcome feedback of any kind, since I'm always looking to improve my writing.**

**Anyway, thanks for coming and I'll see you guys in Chapter Five!**


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